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Run: Green-Bear (12.63 mi)

Kim had a meeting this morning so I didn’t get to do my normal morning adventure. No problem. So I mowed the yard, played with the kids, and did some other stuff around the house. Kim brought home some lunch around noon. I was starved so I ate it and cleaned up after everyone else. Go the go ahead to run so I headed out the door. The temps were in the 80s at that time. Might be our first solid 80 degree day of the year. I grabbed a single bottle…just in case.

Chautauqua was packed so I ended up down off Cascade somewhere parking. Headed up the back of Green and felt like shit pretty much immediately. I hadn’t waited long enough since I ate to run. I try to be all smart but the early afternoon run on a normal lunch schedule isn’t for me. Hiked up a few spots just because I felt crappy and know I need to work on those muscles now and then too.

Got up Green and was immediately attacked by the infestation of bugs up there. WTF? I just left ASAP and was wiping them off of myself all down the stairs. From there, I went Green-Bear to West Ridge. Mission: Find JV. He had come up the front of Bear and we were loosely trying to intersect and run together. We just didn’t have the timing down to start together today. Felt even worse up the back of Bear. I would have raised the flag to quit there and called it a day but that’s not exactly a stopping point. Maybe I will just puke and feel better. By now the heat was getting to me a bit too. I enjoy hot running but I build up to it. When we get these spikes in temps, its an inflection point in the adaptation. So you deal. Its going to be 100 someday soon and today would have felt like a nice cool day!

Saw JV up at the junction at the back of the Bear summit. He turned and started leading me to Bear’s peak. I said…didn’t you already tag it? Yes? Let’s just go then. Turns out the bugs were up there too. So not a true summit tag but I don’t care. I didn’t want to waste 15 minutes scrambling up and down the rocks to get attacked by bugs. I am here to run. Plus, my water was gone! So we headed back down West Ridge, then took Bear Canyon down. JV leading got me moving but I wasn’t feeling much better. I was sort of in the “run hard and puke” mode at that point.

We split paths at the mouth of Bear as he had to go south to his car and I was north. Headed back on Mesa and wasn’t doing too good. Walked a bit and burped about every step. Finally felt like I decompressed some and picked up the jog to finish things out. I was just in time too. Kim and the kids were on their way down to Boulder for a little shopping trip.

I promised Kim we would go check out road bikes for her today. Kind of a Mother’s Day present. Ended up bringing home a really nice Trek Lexa SLX. I think she will enjoy it. She has been trying to ride more and her upright isn’t cutting it anymore. Talked her into clips too! I could be in the dog house over that one after a few wipe outs though. We grabbed dinner and then I came home and drank all the Gatorade I can find.

The heat is coming and I will be ready for it.

I went 12.63 miles with an elevation gain of 4,087 feet in 02:46:37, which is an average pace of 13:11. Heart rate average was 140. View my GPS data on Garmin Connect.